06 to 02
06. Elon Musk
Nobody understands the real-world power of science fiction storytelling better than Musk. Digital payments. Electric cars. Rockets to Mars. Neural interfaces. Even humanoid robots. There’s no implausible vision from science fiction that Elon won’t revive on his quest for immortality…and shareholder value.
05. Solarpunk
The genre without a story. While cyberpunk was defined by the stories of William Gibson and Japanese anime, solarpunk has emerged out of the collective subconscious. It’s an optimistic vision of the near future that exists as illustrations, 3D worlds and think pieces, but is yet to fund an actual story to weave together its disparate parts.
04. Hans Zimmer
In a very real sense Hollywood scifi blockbusters are just pop videos for the music of Hans Zimmer. No composer has been as influential, effectively defining the sound of cinematic scifi for the first two decades of the century. Zimmer’s style is heavily influenced by early 20th century experimentalists like John Cage, showing how in the age of science fiction the once avant garde becomes the mainstream.
03. Janelle Monáe
A David Bowie / Ziggy Stardust for the 21st century, Janelle Monáe’s music, videos and performances are the embodiment of science fiction.
02. Ted Chiang
Chiang claims to write his stories a few sentences a day with a lot of deep thinking inbetween, which might explain why the modern master of science fiction has authored only a handful of short stories in his career. But what stories they are. The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate, Story of Your Life (filmed as Arrival) and The Lifecycle of Software Objects are among the highlights. No understanding if contemporary science fiction is complete without reading Ted Chiang.
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Damien Walter 
My wife and I turned “Dune” off after an hour. We didn’t like it at all.
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I went ahead and watched it. Part 2 is much better. But still, it does not tell the complete story as the previous movies.
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Great article, you’ve fueled a half dozen Holds to be placed at my local library. I like your spread of formats/media, I feel that your fascination with technology and medium-as-message (as you put it) really enrich your insights and analysis.
I love Denis as much as anyone, but I’m sad that his new entry into Dune’s canon means we won’t see someone attempt to produce Jodorowski’s Dune for at least another decade or two now.
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